Trial of Franjo Pravdic Begins Anew

After the trial of Pravdic began anew, Prosecution witness Husein Okanovic testified. He was held in detention together with the Fejzic brothers in Zepce during August 1993.

Okanovic told the Court that he was taken to Orahovica village, near Zepce, along with the Fejzic brothers and a Safet Halilovic, in order to dig trenches.

“Edib Fejzic grabbed a rifle from a Croatian Defence Council, HVO soldier and told his brother to run away. Shooting then began. Two soldiers were wounded in the shooting. They later died. Edib was wounded. They took all of us to the Command building in Orahovica. A soldier approached us and shouted: ‘Where are the guys who killed my brother’. He opened a burst of fire, killing Edib first. He then shot at Edin Fejzic as well. He turned towards us. Anto Budimir stood between us at that moment. He yelled at him, telling him to kill him, because we were not guilty of anything,” Okanovic said.

According to Okanovic’s testimony, he was then taken to Bistrica, where he found out that the soldiers, who were wounded that day, were Jakov Tadic and a member of Pravdic family, who was born without two fingers.

“I knew the Pravdic guy by sight. I knew that the last name of the soldier, who shot at them, was Pravdic as well. When I gave my statement later on, they showed me photographs. I recognised him. Policemen told me that his first name was Franjo,” said Okanovic, who testified in absence of the indictee, because the Cantonal Court accepted his request not to face the indictee due to “fear for my own safety”.

Franjo Pravdic is charged with having killed prisoners of war, who tried to flee, in Orahovica village, Zepce municipality, in August 1993.

Former HVO member Anto Budimir testified at this hearing too. He said that he was in the Command building in Orahovica when the shooting happened in August 1993.

“I ran towards them. I saw two civilians lying on the ground. I stood between the group of civilians and soldiers. I yelled something, I do not know what, but they left the place,” Budimir said.

Budimir told the Court that he could neither remember how many civilians were present nor which HVO member shot, considering the fact that they were “masked, that their faces were painted and that there were several of them”.

When asked why he said, while giving his statement during the investigation in January this year, that he stood between Franjo Pravdic and the civilians, witness Budimir said that Franjo was spoken about while he was giving his statement, so that was probably why he was singled out. Also, he said that he did not have his glasses with him and that he did not read his statement.

The trial is due to continue on October 2.